As reported by Jamaica Information Service, the Bank of Jamaica has successfully completed the CBDC pilot project which began in March 2021.
The Bank of Jamaica stated in March 2021 that it was developing a prototype central bank digital currency in its Fintech Regulatory Sandbox with vendor eCurrency Mint Inc. This was followed by the start of an eight-month experiment in May 2021, which finished on the 31st of December, 2021.
The CBDC pilot was limited to wallet providers that expressed an interest in participating within the specified timeframe. National Commercial Bank (NCB) joined BOJ to evaluate the variety of services to be delivered utilizing the CBDC solution, based on their extensive Sandbox experience.
The pilot project’s success hinged on Jamaica’s ability to create a central bank digital money, as well as the accompanying technical solution. During the trial, many actions were targeted and completed.
Jamaica’s CBDC journey
For the trial, the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) issued 230 million Jamaican dollars ($1.5 million) worth of CBDC, which will be distributed to deposit-taking institutions and approved payment service providers on August 9, 2021, as part of the pilot.
The central bank then distributed 1 million JMD ($6,500) in digital currency to the employees of the Bank of Japan’s banking department as a thank you. To support the National Commercial Bank (NCB), which is one of the country’s leading financial institutions, the bank issued 5 million JMD ($32,000) in CBDC on October 29, according to its website.
Following the report’s findings, the National Commercial Bank (NCB) was the first wallet provider to participate in Jamaica’s CBDC experiment, enrolling 57 users, comprising four small retailers and 53 consumers. An event organised by the NCB in December 2021 allowed customers to make person-to-person, cash-in and cash-out transactions with the bank’s staff.
The Bank of Japan now intends to proceed with a statewide deployment in the first quarter of 2022, with the expectation of adding two more wallet providers. In addition to conducting virtual simulation testing, these service providers will also be allowed to buy CBDC from the BoJ and subsequently distribute it to their consumers.
According to the report, the central bank also intends to place an emphasis on interoperability by testing transactions between clients of different wallet service providers.
Following up on prior reports, the Jamaican central bank picked the Irish cryptographic security business eCurrency Mint as the technology supplier for its digital currency project, which is scheduled to launch in March 2021.
The company is well-known for its involvement in the creation of CBDCs in countries such as Senegal. The Bank of Japan has previously solicited technology vendors to submit proposals for its CBDC initiative, which is scheduled to begin in July 2020.
